Wax deoiling process



prl 24, 1956 P. s. BACKLUND wAx DEoILING PRocEss Filed sept. 27, 1952 2,743,213 WAX DEoILrNG PROCESS Peter Stanley Backlund, Anaheim, Calif., assignor to Union Oil Company of California, Los Angeles, Calif., a corporation of California This invention relates to a process of treating wax-oil mixtures containing relatively high proportions of wax, to separate oil-free wax and relatively Wax-free oil. More particularly it relates to a process of treating slack waxes with a solvent consisting of a ketone or a particular mixture of ketones and water to produce relatively high yields of oil-free wax at a given deoiling temperature.

Various ketones, mixtures of ketones and ketone-hydrocarbon mixtures have been used as solvents in the separation of oil from wax. Acetone and particularly methyl ethyl ketone have been extensively used for this purpose. However, these ketones are only partially miscible with high viscosity index oils at deoiling temperatures and therefore can not be successfully employed as deoiling solvents. The oil miscibility of these ketones can be increased by the addition thereto of an aromatic solvent, as for example benzene or toluene or by the addition of a higher molecular weight ketone, as for example one containing 5 or 6 carbon atoms per molecule. The resulting mixed solvents, although having good oil miscibility, have appreciable solvency for the wax which is to be separated. In other words, these solvents are not su'iciently selective in their ability to dissolve oil and reject wax to permit optimum recovery of wax in the deoiling operations. Methyl isobutyl ketone and other ketones having 5 or 6 carbon atoms per molecule when used alone are found to have good oil miscibility at the usual deoiling temperatures but again these ketones have the property of dissolving wax to an undesirable degree. A particular disadvantage of using a solvent or solvent mixture of the type mentioned is that in order to obtain high yields of wax in deoiling it is necessary to employ lower deoiling temperatures, i. e. ltration temperatures, than should be necessary provided a solvent were available having good oil miscibility and extremely low solvent power for the wax which is to be separated.

It has furthermore been proposed to use mixtures of aromatic hydrocarbons, ketones and water as deoiling solvents for deoiling slack waxes. However, such solvents, although somewhat more eliicient than mixtures of aromatic hydrocarbons and ketones without water, still fail to permit the separation of high yields of oil-free Wax from slack waxes.

It has now been found that solvents having the desired oil miscibility and yet extremely low solvent power for wax are obtained by adding small amounts of water to aliphatic ketones having 5 to 6 carbon atoms in the molecule and particularly methyl isobutyl ketone, methyln-butyl ketone and methyl-n-propyl ketone. The amount of water to be added is relatively small and will generally be that amount which is soluble in the ketone at the deoiling temperature to be employed. The proportion of water to be used will be at least 1.9% by weight and less than about 3.7% by weight of the solvent composition. The addition of water does not appear to decrease the oil miscibility of these ketones to an un- United States arent ice desirable extent and Ayet it does decrease the solubility of wax in the solvent and/or in the solvent-oil solution. The presence of water in the solvent does not appear to change the crystal form of wax separated on cooling the wax-oil mixtures. Cooling may be eiiected in the presence of small amounts of solvent, e. g. in the presence of only a portion of the total deoiling solvent to be employed in the process, in the presence of all of the solvent to be employed or in the complete absence of solvent and the solvent, or the remaining portion of the solvent, may be added following completion of the chilling or cooling operation. Slurries of wax in the oilsolvent mixture, vparticularly those obtained by cooling in the absence of solvent or in the presence of only a portion of the solvent to be employed, filter readily and produce non-porous filter cakes which do not crack during the filtration process. Moreover, the wax cakes produced are readily and efficiently washed on thelter with additional quantities of the solvent containing Water.

Thus, it is an object of this invention to separate wax-oil mixturesy containing relatively high proportions of wax into oil-free wax and relatively wax-free oil employing a solvent which-has suliicient oil solubility to permit the separation of substantially oil-free Wax and yet has limited wax solubility so that high yields of wax are recovered.

Another object of this invention is to separate oil-free wax from slack wax in relatively high yields using a process having relatively low chilling requirements.

A further object of this invention is to provide a deoiling process applicable to slack waxes and other waxoil mixtures containing major proportions of wax, employing a solvent comprising a ketone having 5 to 6 carbon atoms per molecule and a small amount of water, which solvent has good oil miscibility and very poor solvency for wax.

Another object of this invention is to provide a deoiling solvent which when employed in conventional deoiling processes permits the separation of higher yields of oil-free wax from a given slack wax at a given temperature than is obtainable using conventional deoiling solvents or conventional deoiling solvent mixtures.

A specific object of this invention is to provide a process for the separation of hydrocarbon wax-oil mix- 'tures containing relatively high proportions, i. e. be-

tween about 50% and about 98% or more of wax, using as a deoiling solvent an aliphatic ketone having 5 to 6 carbon atoms per molecule and having dissolved therein an amount of water between about 1.9% and about 3.7% by weight based on the total solvent composition and preferably the solvent will consist of a saturated solution of water in the ketone employed.

According to this invention wax-oil mixtures containing relatively high proportions of Wax, as for example between about 50% and about 98% of wax, and particularly slack waxes, are deoiled by heating the wax-oil mixtures sufficiently. to effect solution of the wax in the oil, chilling the Wax-oil mixtures to cause crystallization of wax, mixing the chilled mass with a deoiling solvent consisting of a ketone solution of water, containing between about 1.9% and about 3.7% of water, and separating wax from the resulting slurry. The ketone to be employed is an aliphatic ketone having 5 or 6 carbon atoms per molecule and the amount of water employed i-s preferably that amount which forms a saturated solution of Water in the ketone at the deoiling temperature. Since deoiling temperatures are generally not far dilerent from ordinary temperatures and since the presence of small amounts of free Water in the cooled wax-oil-solvent mixture does not effect the crystal structure or filtration characteristics of the separated wax, it s convenient to employ a solvent consisting of one of the mentioned Ygarda-:211s

line 19 may be passed through line 32 controlled by valve 33 into chiller, or if the solvent is to be added after chilling has proceeded to a certain degree, it may be introduced from line 19 through line 34 controlled by valve 35. In such cases, generally only a portion of the solvent is introduced into chilling and mixing vessel 6 during the chilling operation, the remainder of the solvent being added after chilling has been completed either through lines 32 or 34, or preferably the remainder of the solvent is added to the chilled, partially diluted mixture in line 21 and subsequently mixed in mixer 25 as indicated above.

In another alternative procedure, which is not to be considered equivalent to the above described procedures in that filtration rates of slurries produced are not as great nor are the wax cakes produced as easily or completely washed on the filter as when the previously described methods of solvent addition are employed, the deoiling solvent leaving settler 13 through line 14 is passed through line 36 controlled by valve 37, through heat exchanger 38 where the temperature of the solvent is raised to approximately the temperature of the wax-oil mixture in tank 1 and thence through line 39 into line 5 where it is mixed with the wax-oil solution entering through line 2. The resulting solution of wax in oil and solvent is chilled in chiller 6 to the desired filtration temperature and passed from the chiller through line 22 into line 21 as indicated hereinabove and thence through line 40 controlled by valve 41 into line 30 and thence to lter 31.

The slurry of cooled wax-oil and solvent entering lilter 31 through line 30 is ltered to separate the Wax suspended in the slurry from the oil and solvent. The filtrate, consisting of oil and solvent from which solid wax has been removed, is passed through line 42 controlled by valve 43 into heat exchanger 44 where the temperature is raised so as to permit vaporization of the solvent. The preheated solution is then passed through line 45 controlled by valve 46 into evaporator 47. In the evaporator, solvent is vaporized aided by steam which is circulated through closed coil 48. Vapors passing through mist extractor 49 are Withdrawn through line 50 controlled by valve 51 and passed through condenser 52. The condensed solvent is removed from the condenser through line 53 and pumped by means of pump 54 through line 55' controlled by valve 56 into line 57 controlled by valve 57a for return to settler 13 as will be described hereinbelow.

rl`he wax cake deposited on the filtering element 31 is preferably washed with cooled solvent prior to its removal in order to wash out oils remaining in the filter cake. The cooled solvent may be obtained by passing solvent from settler 13 through cooler 18 and lines 19, 21,

4u and 3i) as indicated hereinabove. The wash solvent leaving ilter 3l may also be passed through heat exchanger 44 into evaporator 47 and the evaporated solvent passed through condenser 52 from which'it is returned to line 57 as indicated hereinabove for the solvent removed from the filtrate.

The solvent-free filtrate obtained after removal of solvent from the original filtrate and the residue obtained after removing solvent from the washings are removed from evaporator 47 through line 58 controlled by valve 59 and pumped by means of pump 60 through line 61 into storage tank 162.

The wax separated in lilter 31 is removed through line 63 controlled by valve 64 and pumped by means of pump 65 through line 66, heat exchanger 6'7 and line 68 into evaporator 69 where solvent is removed from the wax aided by heat supplied by closed steam coil 70. The vaporized solvent is passed through mist extractor 71 and leaves the evaporator via line 72 controlled by valve 73, from which it is passed into line and returned to line 57 as indicated hereinabove for the solvent recovered in evaporator 47. The solvent-free, oil-free wax is removed from the bottom of evaporator 69 through line 74 controlled by valve 75 and pumped by means of pump V76 into storage tank 77.

The deoiling solvent employed in the process and described hereinabove as being removed from settler 13 may be originally prepared'by withdrawing' ketone from storage tank 78 through line 79 controlled by valve 80 and pumped by means of pump 81 through line S2 controlled by valve 83, and thence through line 57 controlled by valve 57a into settler 13. Water is withdrawn from tank 84 through line 85 controlled by valve 86 and passed into line 82 where it is mixed with ketone and passed into settler 13 with the ketone. In order to insure proper mixing of the ketone and water when preparing the original solvent, the mixture of water and ketone in line 82 may be passed through line 87 controlled by valve 88 into mixer 89 and returned to line 57 through line 90 controlled by valve 91. The mixed ketone and water in line 57 may be passed through line 92 controlled by valve 93 through cooler 94 and thence through line 95 controlled by valve 96 into settler 13. in settler 13, water in excess of that amount which is soluble in the ketone at the temperature employed, may be withdrawn through line 97 controlled by valve 98. This water may be discarded or it may be treated for the recovery of ketone in apparatus not shown.

In operating the process in a continuous manner, the solvent recovered in the process from evaporators 47 and 69 and being introduced into line 57 will generally contain the desired amount of water for further use in the process. However, if necessary either water or ketone or both may be added to the recovered solvent to maintain the proper ratio of ketone to water and/ or to replace solvent losses. These additions may be made through the lines previously indicated.

The following are submitted as specic examples of various modifications of the process forming the subject matter of this invention. lt is to be understood however that these examples are not to be construed-as limiting but merely as representative of this invention.

The slack waxes used in the following examples were typical commercial slack waxes prepared by dewaxing selective solvent raffinate obtained from a long residuum from waxy California crude oil. The particular slack waxes employed were fractions of slack -wax obtained by fractional distillation of the slack wax from the solvent ratlinate. In preparing these slack waxes a California waxy crude oil having a gravity ot' 33.1 API was topped to a Saybolt Universal viscosity at 2l0 F. of about 250 seconds. This long residuum was then deasphalted and solvent extracted using a combination treatment with propane and a selective solvent consisting of a mixture of phenol and cresols to obtain a deasphalted'solvent raflinate. This raiidnate hada gravity of 30.1 API and a viscosity of 57.4 SSU at 210 F. This waxy rafhnate containing 31% by weight of wax was then dewaxed using propane as the dewaxing solvent at temperatures of about 40 F. to obtain a slack wax containing about 29.5% of oil. Depending upon the dewaxing process employed the oil content will be between about 5% and 35% by Weight. Typically slack waxes prepared in this manner will contain between about 25% and about 30% by weight of oil. The slack wax produced as above was then fractionally distilled to produce three overhead fractions which will be referred to hereinafter as Streams 0, 1 and 2 and 'a bottoms fraction. Typical tests on each of these fractions of slack wax are shown in Table l.

U Etqmlle I `vIn -theafollowinge/xperiments V'Streamv L2 slack' waxgproducedas abovefdescribed was deoiled'following the proc- `ess of this invention using as the deoiling solvent methyl '.isobutyl(ketoneY containing differentproportions of water Vand, 'forl purposes of comparison', usingjmethyl'isobutyl Vketone without wateras thedeoiling solvent. This ketone will be referred to hereinafter as 'MIBK I AA. Deoilng with MIBK saturated with water at50" Y 117..-100 parts `lay-weight of StreamZ slack wax was heated to agteniperature of 175 FQ to produce a homogeneous meltf VThe heated lwax was then 'cooled to 50 YF. at the l rate Vof about v1" per minute. During the cooling the mass was stirred slowly to prevent the separated wax from `setting up into asolid mass. Also during the `cooling a1` total'of 40 parts by weightof MIBK saturated with 'water at50 E. (about V1.9%`water) was added. TheV solvent was addedy in 4two equal increments when the temperature ofthe Waxf'oil mass being cooled reached 135 F. and 110fF, respectively. After the mass hadbeencooled tor50. F. an additional 220 parts by weight of the same` solvent was added and mixed with the cooled wax-oil mass. The resulting slurry consisting of wax crystals in suspension in Ythe soIvent-oilrsolution `was filtered and the resultingwax cake was washed on thetilter with 260 parts by Weightof the same solvent, ire. MlBK saturated with water at 50ov F. y 'Y f The slurry filtered very readily giving a compact filter cake which did not crack on the filter during iiltration or U while Washing with solvent. The yield and Vmelting point of the wax separated in the abovefdeoiling operation are shown Vin Table 2. The oil content of the product was 0.03%..

B. Deolngl with MIBK saturated with water at ordinary Vtemperatu1.e.`-'l"he deoiling process described underv Part A of this example was repeated except that thedeoil- V`ing solvent employed was 'MIBK containing 2.1% by weight ofg-water which is approximately the amount of 'water soluble Vin MIBK at about 70"V F. which may be` The filtration temf referred to as ordinary temperature. peraturewas 50 F. Data regarding the yield and meltingpoint of the wax recovered in this deoiling operation ewes-,fais

i'was vstirred slowly to-prevent-the 'separated settingup into'asolid mass. Also during Ytlie-coolin'ga ytotal of 40pm-ts by'weightof MPKfsaturated with water at 5091?. ,'(Aabout 3.3% water) Iwas added. The solvent p was addedfin two Vequalincrements when the temperature K of the wax-oilmass being cooled reached 135 f" F; and 110 F., respeetiyely.l After the mass Yhad been cooled to "F. an additional 2,20 parts by weightrofftheV sameV solvent was added and` mixed witl'rthe cooled wax-oil mass. The resulting slurry'consisting of wax crystals in suspension in the solvent-oil solution'was filtered and the resulting wax cake was washed on the filter with 260 parts by weight of the saine solvent, i. efMPK saturated with'waterV at 50 F.

'lhe slurry filtered very readily giving a'compact filter calze which did not crack on the filter during iiltration or whileV washingwithsolvent. The yield andv melting point of the wax separated in the above deoiling operation are shown inTable 3. f

Vi3. Deolng with'MPK ,containing 1.9% of water.-

The deoiling procedure described under Part A was re-V peated except that in this case the deoiling solvent con-V sisted of MPK containing 1.9% of water. The filtration and washing characteristics `of the wax were substantially identical-with-those described in Part A.` Yield and meltv ing point data areV s hownY in Table 3. Y t' C, YDeolng with MPK saturated with wateriat ordinary temperatura- The de oilingprocess described under Part A of this example was repeated except that the deoiling solvent employed was MPK containing 37.6% by weight of water, which lis approximately the amount of waterl f soluble in MPK at'about 70F. which may be referred to as ordinary temperature. was 50 F. Data regardingV the, yieldl and -rnelting point of" the waxrecovered in this deoiling operation-are shown lin Table 3. i

D. Deoiling with MPK'wthout waren- For purposes i of comparison, the deoiling procedure of- Part AV of this example lVwas'repeated except that anhydrous MPK was l `employed as the VdeoilingA solventi.A Yield and melting pointdata are shown in the following table:

are shown in Table 2. The oil content of the productv Y C; Doling with-MIBK without waren-For purposes of4 comparison, the de oiling procedure vof-Part A of'this example was repeated except that anhydrous MIBK was employed as the deoiling soli/eut, 1 Yieldv andy meltingY point data are shown in the ,following table;Y

Exzvlmplell` l Y the following experiments Stream 2V slack 'wax produced asdescribed hereinabove. wasdeoiled following the process of this invention using as the deoiling solvent methyl-n-propyl ketone containing various` proportions Y of water and, for purposes ofcompariso'n, using methyl-npropyl l ketone without water as the deoiling solvent. This ketone' will be referred tqhercipafter @MEK- A. Deo'ling with MPK saturated with waterat 100 parts of the Stream4 2.v s1ackfWaXwas'hcated Vto a 'temperature of 175 to :produce ahomogeneous melt.

The heated waxjwas then 'cooled to 50 F. at the 'rate dwf-abouti? Ffper minute. During'the coolingthe mass TABLE `3 Yield of Y Melting Wax Based Dooiling Process Solventl vgcml; gf vsla (Galician) cen't by Weight MPK plus 3.3%v Water... 151. 0 54. a

'MPK plus 3.6% Water....- 151.1 54. 2

1 MPK 152. 3 50. 5

'Ifhe Voil contentsY ofthe deoiled waxes obtained :by each Y ofl the above methods was lessYV than 0.05% by weight in all' cases. Y n

Y Y n p Eramplelll Y Y YV parts byfweightof Stream 2 slack wax produced asp indicated hereinabove was heated' tofa' temperatureY of F. to-effect-fsolution'ofwaxfin'the oil and thefh'e'ated wax was' thenV cooled' to 50'='F. atvthe' raterof 1 per Vminute with constant, Vslow agitation. When 'the ternperature reached 50"?17., 260-parts by weight of methyl-nbutyl ketone containingV approximately 3;7% by weight of water, cooled-'toY 50 -F.,'wasadded and thoroughly mixedf withV cooled'rwax-oilV mixture.A This amountof -waterwas approximately the amount necessary to-saturat'e the ketone with water: at ordinary temperatures. The

' resulting slurryfwas iltered'and the wax cake'washedon the filter'with an Aac lditional 250 parts ofthe same solvent. Ther resulting wax, after vheating to removesolvent,

amounted'rtoV 50.2% by weight based-'corr thStrcarn-2 Y The filtration temperatureV wax and had a melting point of 153 F. The deoiled wax contained 0.04% oil.

For purposes of comparison the preceding deoiling process was carried out in the same manner except that the deoiling solvent consisted of methyl-n-butyl ketone without Water. The recovered wax amounted to 47.0% by weight of the original Stream 1 slack wax and had a melting point of 154 F. and an oil content of 0.04% by weight.

Example IV For purposes of comparison with the deoiling procedures of this invention deoiling experiments were carried out on a portion of the same Stream 2 slack wax used in Examples I, II and III with lower molecular weight and higher molecular weight ketones with and without water. In the case of methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), the lower molecular weight ketone employed, experiments were carried out with `the ketone alone and with a mixture of MEK and commercial benzol.

A. Deoiling with MEK-benzol.100 parts by weight of Stream 2 slack wax was heated to a temperature of 175 F. to obtain solution of wax in the oil and then cooled to 50 F. at the rate of about 1 F. per minute with constant slow stirring. During the cooling 40 parts by weight of deoiling solvent consisting of a mixture of 43% MEK and 57% commercial benzol was added in two equal increments when the temperature of the waX- oil mass being cooled reached 135 F. and 100 F., respectively. After cooling to 50 F. an additional 220 parts by weight of the same solvent was added and mixed with the cooled wax oil mass. The resulting slurry was filtered and the wax cake washed on the lter with 260 parts by weight of the same solvent which had been cooled to 50 F. The yield and melting point of the Wax separated in this operation are shown in Table 4. The oil content of this product was 0.04% by weight.

B. Deoiling with MEK-benzol saturated with water at ordinary temperatures.-The method of Part A above was repeated except that the deoiling solvent employed consisted of a mixture of 43% MEK and 57% commercial benzol containing about 0.8% by weight of Water. This was a saturated solution of water at 70 F. The deoiled Wax was found to contain 0.06% of oil. Yield and melting point data are shown in Table 4.

C. Deoilng with MEK-The process of Part A of this example was repeated using MEK without water as the solvent. Because of the poor solvency of MEK for oil at lower temperatures the deoiling temperature employed in this instance was 75 F. Yield data on the deoiled wax are shown in Table 4. This wax was found to contain 0.04% by weight of oil.

D. Deoilng with MEK-water mxtures.-The above experiment was repeated using a deoiling or filtration temperature of 75 F. and using MEK containing about 12.5% water (saturated), 3% water and 1% water, respectively as the deoiling solvents. In each of these cases the resulting deoiled wax contained high proportions of oil as will be seen by reference to Table 4 which shows yield, melting point and oil content data for the deoiled waxes prepared in this manner.

E. Deoilz'ng with di-isobutyl ketone (DIBK).-'I'he process of Part A of this example was repeated at 50 F. and at 60 F. using di-isobutyl ketone as the deoiling solvent. Yields and melting point data on the waxes are shown in Table 4. These waxes contained less than about 0.05% by weight of oil.

F. Deoilng with DIBK saturated with water at ordinary temperature- Part E of this example was repeated using as the deoiling solvent di-isobutyl ketone containing about 0.4% by weight of water (saturated solution). Data regarding the deoiled waxes obtained are shown in Table 4. These products were found to contain less than about 0.05% by weight of oil.

TABLEv 4 M lti WYiell3d ofd Filtration e ng ax ase Deolling Process Tempoeraimg gf, vggxslkp I l ture' F' (Galician) cent by Weight Part A, MEK-Benzol 50 155. 3 42. 2 Part B, MEK-Benzol Plus 0.8%

Water 60 154. 9 43. 2 Part C, MEK 75 154. 6 42.4 Part D, MEK Plus 12.5% Water.. 75 144.3 72. 5 Part D, MEK Plus 3% Water 75 149. 4 b 64.8 Part D, MEK Plus 1% Water 75 153. 9 45. 2 Part E, DIBK 50 155. 2 42. 0 Part E, DIBK 60 156.4 38. 6 Part F, DIBK Plus 0.47 Water.. 50 154.9 42. 5 Part F, DIBK Plus 0.4% Water-- 60 156. 0 38. 1

Contained 22.42% oil. b Contained 11.26% oil. Contained 0.82% oil.

It will be observed from the above experiments that when using ketones of higher and lower molecular weight than those described herein as being operable, yields of oil-free wax from a given slack wax are low compared to the yields obtained following the teaching of this invention.

It will be observed that with MEK unless benzol or other good oil solvent s employed, complete deoiling, i. e. substantially complete removal of oil from the wax is not realized if water is present in the solvent composition. When mixtures of MEK-benzol are employed deoiling is accomplished but yields of deoiled wax are low and the addition of water does not cause sutlicient improvement in yield to make the process feasible. Thus using a solvent consisting of 43% MEK and 57% benzol saturated with water the yield of oil-free wax from Stream 2 slack wax was only 43.2% whereas using the aqueous solvents of this invention yields of wax were lin the range of 50-54% by weight of the slack wax.

In the case of di-isobutyl ketone, not only were the yields of deoiled wax low, there was little if any improvement obtained by saturating the ketone with water.

Example V 165 F. to effect solution of wax in the oil and the heated v wax was then cooled to 60 F. at the rate of 1 F. per minute with constant slow agitation. When the temperature had reached 60 F., 260 parts by weight of MIBK containing approximately 2% by weight of water, cooled to 60 F., was added and thoroughly mixed with cooled wax-oil mixture. The resulting slurry was filtered and the wax cake washed on the lter with an additional 250 parts of the same solvent. The resulting wax, after heating to remove solvent, amounted to 49.0% by weight based on the Stream 0 wax and had a melting point of 127 F. and an oil content of 0.07% by weight.

For purposes of comparison the preceding deoiling process was carried out in the same manner except that the deoiling solvent consisted of MIBK without water. The recovered wax amounted to 45.0% by Weight of the original Stream 0 slack wax and had a melting point of 128 F. and an oil content of 0.06% by weight.

Example VI parts by weight of Stream 0 slack wax produced as indicated hereinabove was heated to a temperature of F. to effect solution of wax in the oil and the heated wax was then cooled to 60 F. at the rate of 1 F. per minute with constant slow agitation. When the temperature had reached 50 F., 260 parts by weight of methyln-propyl ketone containing approximately 2.5% by weight of water, cooled to 60 F., was added and thoroughly mixed with the cooled wax-oil mixture. The resulting slurry was ltered and the wax cake washed on the filter with an additional 250 parts of the same solvent.

Wmme The resulting wax, a'fter yheating to remove solvent,

"'famountedto49i8% 'by'weighVbased onthe 'Stream 0 hada melting point of 126.5 F. f

"For purposes' of.comparison the preceding deoiling proc- AYesswascarr'ieclfoutiin the same manner except that the deoiling vsolvent 4consisted of methyl-n-propyl ketone Y.without water. .'.Iherecovered .wax 4amounted .to 45.5%

:by weightof the original Streamslack wax and -had a `meltingpoint of 127.5 F.

The foregoing explanatory 'desjc'ription'of Vrny invention V'istnot to be'iconsidered as limiting since many variations 'may be made within'the scopeaof the following lclaims "by those skilled in the art withoutdepartingifrom the spirit thereof.

vdescription irof the drawing-only single pieces -of -ap-YYY Itlwill be observed Vthatin theforegoing -parat-us have-been shown for-carrying out the process. It is to be understood that'duplicate yequipment maybe provided where'necessary, which may be operatedalternately, so that the ,process may be carried out more or less continuously. V Y

f 1. processfor deoiling Wax-oil mixturescontaining from about 5.0 to about 98% of wax which .comprises bringing said wax-oil mixture to a temperature suftcient Yto dissolve the wax in the oil, cooling the resultingv solu- Vtion with agitation to crystallize wax, commingling the cooled wax-oil mass with a cooled solvent consisting of` an aliphatieketone of 5 to`6V carbon atoms per molecule having dissolved therein between about 1.9% and 3.7%

by Weight of water, to dissolve the oil, leaving Vthe waxv substantially completely undissolved, separating the sol vent solutionof oil Vfrom the lcrystallized Wax, evaporating solvent comprising said vketonecontaining' water from the solvent solution of oil and recycling the recovered 'solvent for reuse in the process.

2. A ,processv for theseparation of a .substantially oilfree Wax 'from Wax-'dil'rnixtures containing from about 50 to about 98% of V'wiarrwhich"comprises bringingsaid vwax-oilmixtures to a temperature suflcientto dissolve the Ywax lin the oil, coolingthe resulting solution with` agitation to a temperature between about 35 F. and l about 80 F. to crystallize wax, commingling the cooled Wax-oil mass with acooled'solvent consisting of `a-lretone selectedfrom the class. consisting of methyl isobutyl ketone, methylrn-butyl ketone and methyl-n-propyl ketone.V and betweenI about 1.9%` and about 3.7% of water to dissolve the oil, leaving-the wax substantially completely vvundissolved, separating "the solvent. solution .of oil from tllercljystallized wax,.evaporating solvent comprising'said A*ketone and-water from the'solvent solution'of oil `and recycling therecoveredsolvent'forreuse inthe process.

3; A process accordingto vClaim ZWherein said `solvent consists'ofia'saturated solutionof water in said ketone. Y

Aprocess' according to claim '2 `in iis/hieltV said `ketone Y is methyl isobutyl'ketone. Y Y Y 5. A process according to claim 2Y in which AVsaid ketone is methyl-n-butyl ketone. Y

. 6. A process according to claim 2 in which said ketone is methyl-n-propyl ketone.Y

Apropyl ketone.

7; 'A'zprocessfor"thetreatment `ot' slackwax to vsep- Varaterelativelyhigh :yields of oil-free wax therefrom, which process :comprises heatingsaid slack wax to VVa temperature suticientto-.dissolve Sthe Wax in theroilpres :ent'in said slack wak-'cooling the resulting wax-oil solution'withzagitati'on :to -crystallizefwax, `at least a part of fsaidcooling being .effected in the presence of a .quantity of solvent less than the total :quantity `of ysolvent :to be employed iinV the wax V.separation process,V to :produce Y a mass whichis fluid atthe :cooling temperature, comming-- ling-:said cooled, fluent .waX-oil-solvent vmixture with the remainder y.of `v`the solvent to be used ,in the wax 'separation process, which'fsolvent has been vcooled tothe temperature :of theV wax-oil-solvent mixture to dissolve the @oil present, separating the solvent solution of oil as ltr-ate from the crystallized wax, evaporating solvent -from saidltrate Aand'recycling said evaporated solvent for reusei-n the-process, said -solventconsisting ofV a ketone having ldissolved therein between about 1.9% Vand about 3.7%'by -weight of water, said ketone being -a ketone selected from :the kclass consisting of methyl isobutyl ketone,

ReferennesrCIted in the file of thisipatent UNITED ST'TES PATENTS Benedict V Dec. 7, 1954 methyl-n-butyl ketone `and methyl-n-V 

1. A PROCESS FOR DEOILING WAX-OIL MIXTURES CONTAINING FROM ABOUT 50 TO ABOUT 98% OF WAX WHICH COMPRISES BRINGING SAID WAX-OIL MIXTURE TO A TEMPERATURE SUFFICIENT TO DISSOLVE THE WAX IN THE OIL, COOLING THE RESULTING SOLUTION WITH AGITATION TO CRYSTALLIZE WAX, COMMINGLING THE COLLED WAX-OIL MASS WITH A COOLED SOLVENT CONSISTING OF AN ALIPHTIC KETONE OF 5 TO 6 CARBON ATOMS PER MOLECULE HAVING DISSOLVED THEREIN BETWEEN ABOUT 1.9% AND 3.7% BY WEIGHT OF WATER, TO DISSOLVE THE OIL, LEAVING THE WAX SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETELY UNDISSOLVED, SEPARATING THE SOLVENT SOLUTION OF OIL FROM THE CRYSTALLIZED WAX, EVAPORATING SOLVENT COMPRISING SAID KETONE CONTAINING WATER FROM THE SOLVENT SOLUTION OF OIL AND RECYCLING THE RECOVERED SOLVENT FOR REUSE IN THE PROCESS. 